Les voix des fleuves Crossing the water
Florian Mermin – Violette Cristal, 2024
2024
Wax, amethyst, tiger’s eye, crystallised violet
Born in 1991 in Longjumeau, France
Lives and works in Paris, France
Florian Mermin’s work is informed by influences from film, literature and philosophy, from Jean Cocteau to Edgar Allan Poe or Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It seeks to establish a dialectic between objects and humans, reality and the imagination, the animate and the inanimate, to blur the boundary between inner and outer. His immersive installations engage all of the five senses to explore the artistic and poetic possibilities of living things. His sculptures and ceramics involve natural or artificial plants, fresh or dried flowers, and borrow from the aesthetics of the hybrid, thanks to encounters with fantastic worlds and his quest for “the uncanny”.
Inspired by the history of the 17th-century apothecary at the Hôpital de la Charité, with its earthenware pots containing oils and ointments, Florian Mermin has developed a work based on the healing properties of flowers. Made from crystallised violet petals and precious stones, sculpture Violette Cristal evokes the cycles of nature and recalls the vanities with their reminder of the fleeting, ephemeral nature of existence. As the room is filled with the scent of violets, the work, with its iridescent reflections, appeals to the visitor’s sense of sight, taste and smell, encouraging sensitive reflection on the subject of health care.
Courtesy of the artist
Creation for the 17th Lyon Biennale
During his residency in Vénissieux as part of the Lyon Biennale, Florian Mermin has explored the floral history of Lyon, capital city of the rose. He has met with professional horticulturists from the greenhouses of the Parc de la Tête d’Or, discovered the herbarium of Prince Roland Napoléon (held at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), which contains nearly 3 million specimens, and visited the old cemetery in Vénissieux, where many rose specialists are buried.
Artist also on view in the Garden of the Fine Arts Museum of Lyon
Artist(s)
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